GRIEVING PARENTS: Sherrone and David Jenkins hold each other. People gave out fliers demanding information on whoever killed the Jenkinses' daughter, 9-year-old Sherdavia. (David Adame/For the Miami Herald Staff)
Vigil cry: Help us find who killed girl
By David Ovalle and Andrea Robinson
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com
While community leaders pleaded for tips that could solve the killing of 9-year-old Sherdavia Jenkins, homicide detectives late Monday gave a detailed description of a man they believe was involved in the gunfight.
He is known by the street name Yellow Man.
He was last seen wearing a white polo, long blue jean shorts, a green-and-red hat and two-toned tennis shoes - one of the colors is red, police said late Monday.
The man sports waist-length dreadlocks. His name is not certain, but he may have an injured shoulder.
The information came just hours after politicians, activists and bereaved family members gathered for a candlelight vigil in the darkness of the Liberty City housing project known to many as Pork 'n' Beans.
Sherdavia was shot in the neck as she played with her doll, Polly, on her porch on Saturday afternoon, her death sparking outrage in a county already reeling from a rash of murders, including the shooting death of an 18-month-old in May. Police believe Sherdavia was an unintended target in a gunfight.
On Monday, the afternoon began with U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek leading a couple hundred people, knocking on doors and distributing fliers demanding for information to help solve the case.
"It's unacceptable for this type of act to take place and go unpunished," Meek said.
With him was David Jenkins, the little girl's father, who pleaded with his neighbors to turn in the killer or killers.
"If you know something please come forward. Take back your community before it's gone too far," Jenkins said, steps away from the spot where his daughter fell dead. His wife, Sherrone, stood silently nearby, under the careful watch of her mother, Shirley Williams.
Jenkins announced he was creating an organization called Families Against Senseless Shootings to call attention to the problem plaguing the community.
Later, political leaders and ministers announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the killing.
Monday's show of support was designed to send a message, said Meek, a former Florida Highway Patrol trooper.
During his days in the state Legislature in the late 1990s, Meek occasionally led canvassing efforts to protest violence and decrepit housing conditions in the neighborhood.
Dozens of volunteers - a teacher from Sherdavia's elementary school, police officers, civic leaders, union and church members - fanned the length and width of the Liberty Square project and passed out fliers bearing the image of the smiling girl. At each stop, they asked neighbors to call Crime Stoppers.
Among the volunteers was Debbie Page, aunt of teenager Evan Page, a Carol City High School senior who was shot to death in November.
"I'm here in honor of all the children," Page said. With her was her daughter, Octavia Anton, 15.
After the neighborhood walk-through, about 50 residents returned to the Jenkins' home with Sherdavia's relatives, neighborhood pastors and elected officials.
The pastors had ideas: Put a gate around the project, install security cameras. But Nora Perry, 25, seemed disillusioned.
"They told us we were going to have that a year ago," she said. "This will last for two weeks. After that, once she is buried, it's out of sight, out of mind."
Monday evening, activists held a candlelight vigil for the slain girl at the Liberty Square Community Center, 6304 NW 14th Ave.
Funeral services for Sherdavia will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at New Mount Moriah Baptist Church, 6700 NW 14th Ave., in Liberty City. Hall Ferguson Hewitt Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Miami Police Chief John Timoney said he was certain the killer would be caught.
"To do this in broad daylight with kids . . . around the play area is incredible. This did not happen in a vacuum," Timoney said. "We want to catch this person sooner rather than later. God forbid someone else gets shot."
Despite the fresh community outcry, press conferences and emotional vigils, tips were initially slow to pour in, authorities said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami homicide detectives at 305-579-6530 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
In a year already marked by so many caught-in-the-crossfire deaths, keeping Sherdavia's killing in the public eye is key to solving the case, said Detective Delrish Moss, a department spokesman. So it began again, the tug of war between releasing enough tidbits of information to keep the story alive and holding back enough to not show the perpetrators what detectives know.
"That's always a challenge - how much info you can give to keep the story alive, as opposed to information that is going to be harmful to the case," Moss said. "It's a delicate dance."
Miami Herald staff writers Evan S. Benn and Nicholas Spangler contributed to this report.